Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Winter in Illinois can be hazardous to the sick and elderly, which is why our Chicago nursing home abuse law firm want to remind you of how important it is for assisted living facilities to make sure that they keep patients as warm and healthy as possible. Otherwise, cold temperatures coupled with negligent nursing care can prove fatal for residents.

Steps that Chicago assisted living facilities can take to protect their patients from the cold weather:

• Make sure facilities have sufficent heating.
• Secure entrances and exits so that patients don’t wander off the grounds unattended.
• Pay extra attention to residents that are at risk of wandering.
• Remove Chicago slip and fall snow and ice hazards from the nursing home grounds
• Make sure that patients are well fed and wearing warm clothing
• Keep extra food, water, and medications on the grounds in the event that a heavy snow storm makes it impossible to get more supplies.

Hypothermia
Hypothermia, which involves the untended lowering of the body temperature, can occur during very cold temperatures. It is a health emergency that requires immediate medical attention. The elderly and those with health issues are among those at greatest risk of developing hypothermia. Health conditions that can increase a patient’s hypothermia risk include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fall injuries, fractures, dementia, mental illness, and being under certain medications.

Wandering/Elopement
For a nursing home resident, especially one who is very ill or suffering from some type of mental illness, to wander from a facility is dangerous during any time of the year can be dangerous. He or she may become the victim of a Chicago car accident, a violent crime, or a fatal fall. However, getting lost in the snow when the temperature is extremely low can prove fatal for the resident, who may end up freezing to death.

Nursing home patients are also susceptible to flu, the cold, a cough, pneumonia, and other illnesses during the winter months. Unlike persons with strong immune systems, such sicknesses can prove detrimental to their health and result in infection and health complications. Now, more than ever, nursing home staff must carefully monitor their patients’ health.

Winter Safety Measures, Wisconsin.gov

Preparation is key for winter woes, Sun-Times, December 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Chicago Nursing Homes, The City of Chicago

How to Prevent Wandering at a Senior Care Facility, Caring.com

Continue reading "Chicago Nursing Homes Must Keep Patients Warm and Healthy During Winter Months" »

According to a review reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, pharmacist review of meds and vitamin D supplementation can reduce nursing home falls. This is good news, considering that nursing home falls, as well as fall accidents in hospitals, are common causes of elderly deaths.

After reviewing several studies of vitamin D use in nursing homes, researchers found that nursing home residents’ chances of falling went down by 28% when they were given vitamin D every day. Seniors who had low levels of vitamin D when the study began were the ones who benefited the most. Also according to the report, seniors have a 10 times greater chance of falling when they reside at a nursing home.

Our Chicago, Illinois nursing home neglect lawyers represent patients who have been injured during nursing home falls. Unfortunately, not every nursing home does enough to prevent fall accidents from happening. Many of these fall accidents could have been avoided if only assisted living facilities and their employees had done their jobs correctly.

Common causes of Chicago, Illinois nursing home falls:

• Slip and fall hazards
• Inadequate assistance
• Malnutrition
• Poor lighting
• Lack of handrails
• Uneven steps
• Inadequate exercise program

Fall injuries can be extremely painful and debilitating and may lead to health complications and even death for an elderly or sick/frail nursing home resident.

Do NOT hesitate to explore your legal options for financial recovery.

Vitamin D reduces falls in nursing homes, review says, McKnight's, January 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
The Cochrane Collaboration

Vitamin D, MayoClinic.com

A number of nursing home experts have expressed dismay that the federal government has chosen to give five-star ratings to two Illinois nursing homes even though both assisted living facilities exhibited fire deficiencies. As Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board member Tom Lia noted, Illinois nursing home must have fire protections—especially as sick or elderly residents may need help escaping from a premise when a fire breaks out.

The Grove at Lincoln Park received five stars under Medicare and Medicaid’s Nursing Home Compare rating system last year. Yet also in 2008, inspectors found seven fire-related violations. One of these violations involved sprinklers that were improperly maintained and not in working order. The Arbour Health Care Center, another Chicago nursing home that received a 5-star rating last year, also had four fire deficiencies.

The federal government’s Nursing Home Compare ratings are supposed to give prospective nursing home residents and their families a system that they can use to evaluate and compare different nursing homes to best determine which facility would be the best fit for an elderly or sick patient. Assisted living facilities that receive five-star ratings are considered above average, while nursing homes that get just one-star are considered way below average in comparison to other facilities in the area.

The Medicare Web site says that the rating system takes into account nursing home staffing, health inspections, quality measures, and fire safety standards when choosing how to rank each nursing home. Medicare’s Ellen Greif, however, says that life safety code, which includes fire code violations, is not part of the ratings calculation. This is unfortunate, considering that many families look to the federal rating system as an accurate source of information about the quality of care and the kind of living situation that a prospective resident will likely encounter at the facility.

Fires can break out at Illinois nursing homes. Just last year, Igor Shteyn, 67, died in a fire at the Hampton Plaza Health Care Centre. His children sued the Niles nursing home for Illinois nursing negligence and wrongful death. They claimed that the nursing home workers were not properly trained in dealing with the fire. Shteyn's roommate, 76-year-old Naum Berdichevsky, also died.

The absence of properly working fire sprinklers in a building can pose a fire hazard that can be grounds for a nursing home negligence claim, a products liability complaint, or a wrongful death lawsuit if a patient or a visitor gets hurt or dies in a fire. Congress even passed the “The Nursing Home Fire Safety Act,” which requires that all nursing home facilities that are part of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs have automatic fire sprinkler systems.

Five-Star Farce?, MyFox Chicago, June 30, 2009

Officials investigate Niles nursing home fire, ABClocalgo.com, May 15, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board

Continue reading "Two Chicago Nursing Homes Receive 5-Star Ratings Despite Fire Deficiencies" »

The Illinois Department of Public Health says that the La Salle County Nursing Home’s inability to protect female residents from sexual abuse allowed one male resident to molest 10 patients. All of the nursing home sexual abuse incidents occurred within the last six months. On June 4, the IDPH designated the long-term care facility as a nursing home in “Immediate Jeopardy” since December 24, 2008, when the nursing home failed to immediately investigate claims that a male resident was engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct.

As a result of the nursing home’s failure to act immediately, IDPH says the male resident was able to sexually abuse female residents that were suffering from dementia.

Inappropriate sexual conduct the male resident is accused of include:

• Trying to persuade female residents to come to his room.
• Kissing female residents.
• Trying to “handle” female patients.
• Propositioning residents to engage in sexual relations with him.
• Inappropriately touching patients under their clothes.
• Fondling patients.
• Exposing his genitalia to residents.

The male resident was removed from La Salle County Nursing Home last month and he was transferred to a psychiatric facility.

It is hard enough for any woman to fend of inappropriate sexual advances from an male assailant. Patients suffering from dementia are admitted to Illinois nursing homes because they need help taking care of themselves. Nursing home workers are not only charged with these patients’ daily care, but they must make sure that they are protected from any inappropriate sexual misconduct—including sexual advances from nursing home workers or other residents.

Failure by a nursing home to prevent sexual abuse or investigate sexual abuse allegations, which can lead to more residents’ becoming the victim of abuse, can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit.

IDPH: Ten residents sexually abused at La Salle County Nursing Home, NewsTribune.com, July 2, 2009

Read the Report (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

Continue reading "Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Law Firm: IDPH says Male resident sexually abused 10 La Salle County Nursing Home female patients " »

A second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Angel Arms Family Group Home related to the deaths last June of two men that were staying at the care facility. The two men that died were 42-year-old Thomas Calhoun and his roommate John Jones, 79.

The plaintiffs contend that both men, who were roommates and suffering from mental illnesses, were left unsupervised for a considerable length of time in extremely hot weather. As a result of being left unattended in more than 90-degree heat, they both died. Jones’s body temperature was reportedly 105 degrees when he was found unconscious.

According to the coroner, both men were takings medication that made them vulnerable to heat. The group’s home director, Pam Shay, says that air conditioning was too costly, so instead, the windows were kept open to let air into the home. She also had planned to purchase fans. The state has taken away her license.

Calhoun’s family filed their wrongful death complaint this week. Jones’s family filed their nursing home neglect complaint last December.

According to findings from a January 2008 inspection of the group home, the facility had committed 29 violations, which included failure to adequately train staff—one worker wasn’t trained and the other worker had only undergone four hours of training over the past year—and the failure to provide a healthy and clean environment. State officials noted dirty dishes in the sink, food stains on the carpets, missing ceramic tiles in the kitchen, piles of rugs in the laundry room that were considered a fire hazard, cobwebs, and beds with soiled sheets. In May 2008, officials that conducted a follow-up investigation found that the violations had been corrected.

2nd wrongful death suit filed against group home, WTOL11.com, June 9,2009

State reveals South Toledo group home had 29 violations, Toledo Blade, June 19, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Heat Stroke Can Sneak Up and Kill, CNN, July 28, 1999

Officials are reporting that from 2006 to 2007, a number of nursing home residents at the Tendercare Health Center-Birchwood sexually and physically abused other patients. They also say that the nursing home’s management failed to report the incidents or do anything to stop them from happening. The assaults have resulted in a criminal investigation and fines against the US nursing home, which is now on the US government’s list of the most troubled nursing homes in the country.

Both male and female residents were reportedly victimized and some of the assailants still live at the long-term care facility. One former 68-year-old resident reports that nursing home workers failed to stop the hostile residents from repeatedly harming other patients.

According to the state inspectors’ report, residents regularly felt “anxious, fearful, helpless, humiliated, devaluated” and as if they needed to be on the look out. The patients also reportedly felt as if they weren’t safe and that the long-term care facility was not concerned about their well-being. They reportedly blamed staffers for allowing the abuse.

One incident involved a male resident harassing a 58-year-old resident who was suffering from dementia and Down syndrome. The facility social worker reportedly dealt with the situation by telling the victim to stay away from her harasser. When suspicious bruises were found on the patient's thighs and breast, nursing home workers failed to tell police about her injuries.

Another mail resident reportedly assaulted a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. Because the woman is immobile, except for her wrists, and cannot speak, she was unable to physically or verbally respond when he approached her in the dining room and put his hand up her shirt.

There are also reports of one man touching women's legs during bingo games and another man exposing his sexual parts to others.

Extendicare Health Services Inc. owns Birchwood. The nursing home has also been cited for inadequate medication records, issues with patient confidentiality, failure to prevent fall accidents, and inadequately caring for bedsores.

Sexual and Physical Assaults
US nursing homes are supposed to make sure that patients do not become the victims of any violent crimes or other abusive incidents. Failure to ensure a resident’s safety from such incidents can be grounds for a nursing home neglect or abuse lawsuit.

Assaults left residents anxious, Record-Eagle, March 31, 2009

Report details abuses at local nursing home, Record-Eagle, March 31, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Tendercare Health Center-Birchwood, USA Today

Extendicare Health Services Inc.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Residents at US Long-Term Care Facility Reportedly Sexually and Physically Abused Other Patients Residents " »

Seven nursing home residents and one nursing home worker are dead, following a shootout at a US nursing home. The deadly attack happened on Sunday when Robert Stewart entered the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center, which houses numerous Alzheimer’s patients, and began shooting at people.

Nursing home residents that died ranged in age from 78 to 98. They are Louise Decker, Margaret Johnson, John Goldston, Bessie Hedrick, Jesse Musser, Lillian Dunn, and Tessie Garner. Nurse Jerry Avant also died from his wounds.

Police believe that Stewart may have been targeting his estranged wife, Wanda Luck, who is a nurse at the long-term care facility. The shooting rampage stopped after lone Police Officer Justine Garner entered the premises and shot him in his upper torso.

Stewart, who is receiving medical attention at a local prison, was arraigned on Monday on first-degree murder charges and a felony charge of assaulting a law enforcement official.

Nursing Home Security
It is important that all US nursing homes provide the proper security measures to keep residents safe from dangerous persons both outside the premise and within the facility. Families entrust workers at long-term care facilities to take care of their sick or elderly loved ones and not place them in harm's way.

If someone you love was abused, neglected, assaulted, raped, molested, or robbed by a nursing home worker or by an intruder to the nursing home, or if your loved one was hurt or died in a violent crime because he or she managed to leave a long-term care facility unattended, you may have grounds for filing a nursing home neglect claim or wrongful death lawsuit.

Some security measures that nursing homes might want to consider implementing:
• A registration system that documents anyone entering or exiting the building
• Security cameras
• Alarm systems
• Door locks
• Security guards
• Pre-screening (including criminal background checks) of nursing home workers

Gunman's estranged wife worked at N.C. nursing home, CBC News, March 30, 2009

Marital discord suspected as motive in North Carolina nursing home rampage, Associated Press, March 30, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pinelake Health and Rehab, Peak Resources

Nursing Home Overview, Medicare.gov

Continue reading "Seven Nursing Home Residents Killed in Gunman Attack at Long-Term Care Facility" »

The Associated Press says that out of all the US states, the state of Illinois has the most number of mentally ill patients under age 65 living in its nursing homes. In 2007, there were 12,736 mentally ill young adults and middle aged residents residing in Illinois nursing homes. One reason there are so many mental patients in Illinois long-term care facilities is because the state has closed down seven state-run mental hospitals since 1980. This only left 1,480 public hospital beds, which is why so many of these patients are now living in nursing homes.

However, placing younger, stronger mentally ill patients with elderly ones can sometimes lead to deadly results, especially if a younger patient is suffering from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or depression and the older resident is physically weaker. For example, in one fatal nursing home incident, a 77-year-old Alzheimer’s patient was murdered while in his nursing home bed when his roommate smashed his face with a clock radio. The man who killed him was a mentally ill patient who was 30 years younger than him.

In an Illinois nursing home sexual assault incident, a young adult patient with bipolar disorder was charged with raping a 69-year-old female nursing home resident. An investigation found that the Elgin nursing home knew about his violent history yet failed to properly supervise him.

Unfortunately, this continues to be a risk that older nursing home residents face when placed in homes with younger patients that are suffering from serious mental illnesses. 9% of the 1.4 million nursing home residents living in the US are middle age and younger mentally ill patients. Last year, there were close to 125,000 mentally ill patients younger than age 65 living in US long-term care facilities—that’s 41% more than in 2002. Yet the government is currently not keeping track of how many younger mentally ill patients have harmed elderly nursing home residents.

Illinois nursing homes are supposed to protect all of their residents from becoming the victims of violent crimes. They are also supposed to make sure that each of their residents get the proper, specific care that they need. Failure to do either can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home abuse or neglect lawsuit.

Ill. has most mentally ill in nursing homes, STLToday.com/Associated Press, March 19, 2009

Nursing home patients endangered by mentally ill, Daily Herald, March 19, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Nursing Homes in Illinois

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Homes House More Mentally Ill Patients Under Age 65 than Long-Term Care Facilities in Other US States" »

Three nursing home residents in wheelchairs suffered facial bruises after they were punched by a man who walked into the Tulare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The intruder, 28-year-old Marcos Alderete, was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony elder abuse, public intoxication, and battery.

Police officers think that Alderete sniffed paint before he attacked the residents, an 82-year-old man and two 92-year-old women. They say he was able to enter the nursing home through the front door, which was unlocked.

Alderete encountered the three residents in the lobby, where he attacked them. The elderly man’s cheeks became swollen from the assault, while the two females sustained bruises around the eyes. It is not known why they were sitting close to the front door.

Alderete stopped his assault after he was confronted by a nursing home staff member. He then ran outside where he was detained at a nearby hospital by a security guard.

Inadequate Security at US Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are supposed to ensure the safety of their residents. This means that nursing home abuse and neglect must strictly be prohibited and safety and security precautions must be taken to make sure that residents and nursing home workers do not become the victim of violent, sexual, or robbery crimes.

Steps that nursing homes can take to secure the premise:

• Installing decurity cameras and other surveillance equipment
• Setting up alarm systems
• Separating violent residents from other residents
• Making sure there is adequate resident and staff supervision
• Conducting criminal background checks when hiring nurses and other nursing home staffers
• Securing entrances and exits
• Establishing a visitor sign-in policy

If your loved one was injured because of nursing home abuse or neglect or because an Illinois nursing home was negligent about providing adequate security on the premise, you may be able to claim damages for personal injury.

Tulare man arrested in assaults on three nursing-home residents, Visalia Times-Delta, January 15, 2009

Man busts into Tulare nursing home, assaults 3, Visalia Times-Delta, January 14, 2009

Continue reading "Three Nursing Home Residents in Wheelchairs Injured After Intruder Assaults Them" »

The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is ordering a Springfield, Illinois nursing home to pay a $3,500 fine for failing to prevent a patient’s fall accident. 86-Year-Old Alfred “Stan” Catherwood tumbled down a flight of steps at Capitol Care Center while strapped to his wheelchair. The Illinois nursing home accident occurred on September 24. Schaff was admitted to the Springfield nursing home on September 11.

Catherwood broke bones in his neck and face, as well as sustained tears and scratches on his arms, left check, and head. He was hospitalized following the incident and died on October 28 at a Petersburg nursing home. However Capital Care Center Administrator Cynthia Schaaf says Catherwood’s death was not related to the injuries he sustained in the fall accident, which the Illinois Department of Public Health inspection ruled were not life-threatening.

The state’s inspection report noted that Catherwood had dementia and that his family had asked that he be strapped into his wheelchair because there was a chance he might decide to wander from the Springfield nursing home.

The elderly resident somehow managed to enter the stairwell, which had the only door at the nursing home that lacked an automated alarm or key-code lock. Schaaf claims Catherwood would have only been able to open the door with someone’s help and. She believes that either another resident or a visiting relative may have held the door open for him.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Springfield nursing home failed to properly supervise Catherwood and failed to maintain an environment that was hazard-free. Inspectors also reported a finding of “immediate” jeopardy, which compelled Capitol Care to put up warning signs that residents shouldn’t be allowed through exit doors. A keypad lock was also installed on the door.

Fall Accidents at Illinois Nursing Homes
Nursing home operators, like all other premise owners and property managers, are supposed to make sure that there are no hazardous conditions on the premise that can cause fall accidents or another type of injury of accidents. Fall accidents are one type of accident that can lead to an Illinois nursing home neglect or premises liability lawsuit if someone is injured as a result of inadequate supervision, failure to warn, failure to repair or remedy a hazardous condition, or any other form of nursing home negligence.

Springfield nursing home fined $3,500 after patient falls down stairs, SJ-R.com, December 10, 2008

Nursing home fined after patient falls down stairs, Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Capitol Care Center, Hospital-Data.com

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Must Pay $3,500 Fine for 86-Year-Old Patient’s Fall Accident" »

The estate of a 77-year-old Chicago nursing home patient who died after being beaten to death by his roommate has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility. Ivory Jackson's estate is seeking $50,000 in damages from the All Faith Pavilion nursing home because Jackson, who had Alzheimer’s, was housed with a roommate who was mentally ill. The Cook County coroner said his death was caused by an infection and injuries after he was struck in the head during an assault.

Jackson’s roommate, Solomon Owasanoye, has been charged with first-degree murder. He reportedly suffers from dementia.

Premises Liability
Property owners and managers are supposed to make sure that their premises are secure so that visitors, residents, and patrons will not become the victims of any kind of crime. When inadequate security and precautions result in someone’s injury or death, the party in charge of the premise can be held liable under Illinois’s premises liability law if he or she could have done more to prevent the crime from happening.

Some crimes that can occur on a premise due to inadequate security measures:

• Sexual assault
• Assault & battery
• Rape
• Robbery
• Break-ins

Owners and managers of nursing homes, schools, college dorms, clubs, hotels, restaurants, and other premises where people live or frequently visit can be held responsible for crimes committed by third parties on their property.

Suit filed by estate of man fatally beaten in nursing home, ChicagoTribune.com, July 14, 2008

Lawsuit filed in nursing home beating death, WHITV.com/AP, July 15, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Man Charged With Murder For Nursing Home Beating, MyFoxChicago.com, June 28, 2008

In 2006, Chicago based A.D.R. Systems of America, LLC., resolved over 1,100 cases through the use of mediation and arbitration. Malman Law resolves 98% of all cases before trial with the help of this process. Many of the top personal injury lawyers in Chicago utilize mediation and arbitration to resolve cases. This is evidence that the aggressive use of mediation and arbitration to settle personal injury cases is growing rapidly. These are voluntary meetings agreed to by the parties, as opposed to those connected with the court system. The process is private and confidential.

I have successfully resolved many types of cases through the use of mediation and arbitration including, auto accidents, truck accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, construction accidents, slip and falls, accidental shootings, dog bites and other personal injury matters.

Mediation is a dispute resolution process where a neutral party, usually a retired Judge, helps to negotiate a settlement for a case. There is usually no live testimony at a mediation. The parties have total control over the outcome of the mediation and decisions are made after being informed of all information available. At a mediation the parties are not required to agree to a settlement, it is completely the parties own decision.

Arbitration is similar to a trial but is faster, less expensive and final. In an arbitration, the parties submit, usually to a retired Judge, all of the evidence to prove a case. This includes live testimony as well as written documentation. The Judge then renders a final binding decision. Sometimes, the decision can be controlled with a "high/low" agreement. This means that the parties can agree to the least amount that a party can recover and the most amount a party can recover. This allows for a range of expected recovery.

My many years of experience has taught me that the keys to alternative dispute resolution (A.D.R.) are preparation, patience and an open mind. I am always willing to listen to what someone has to say if it is in my client's best interest. See you out of court!